Vespa has created its first electric scooter

Chic and environmentally friendly

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Vespa might already be one of the most established scooter brands in the world, but that hasn’t stopped it from shaking itself up by creating its first entirely electric scooter.

Piaggo, Vespa’s parent company, announced the Vespa Elettrica just ahead of the Milan Motorcycle Show, stating that its decision to invest in electric vehicles is part of its plan to “redesign the mobility of the future.”

The announcement was accompanied by a concept image of the scooter, which appears to be based on the design of the existing Primavera line of scooters, while adding a sleek electric blue trim.

A modern classic

Other than this, Piaggo doesn’t share much more information on the vehicle so we don’t have any exact specifications or an expected price range just yet, though don’t expect it to come cheap.

It does however mention that the scooter will have “technological and innovative connectivity solutions” which is rather vague. We imagine this could point to some kind of companion app or on-scooter screen that would display important details like speed and battery life as well as offer navigation and location features.

We're also intrigued to know how we'll be charging the device when it's released. We might charge it like you would a standard electric car, but Piaggo could go down the route of having a removable battery like the Taiwanese startup Gogoro has, allowing people to quickly swap out their empty batteries at charging stations rather than having to wait for their scooter to recharge.

The Elettrica is expected to hit the roads sometime in late 2017 and it’s likely that Vespa will reveal some more information with regards to pricing, release, and specs at the Milan Motorcycle Show later this month.